-0,32%Diversity
Social Sustainability: Diversity at Aperam
The steel industry of today has changed greatly from the days when workshop operations necessitated muscular strength and recruitment was limited to men. As a result, we now have more women in the workforce, including some leading our key production units. Because Aperam sees value in a diverse workforce, we are keen to attract the very best talent, regardless of age, gender, national origin or disabilities and integrate everyone into the Aperam family.
Achieving More Gender Diversity
Since 2018, we have implemented a program inspired by the United Nations’ Women Empowerment Principles. Through this action plan, we aim to:
- Ensure that our female employees are treated fairly, with an emphasis on fighting stereotypes and taking specific, female-focused measures regarding ergonomics, work environment, career development, etc.
- Increase the number of women working at Aperam by recruiting women at all levels of the company, from the traditionally male-dominated shop floor up to the management level.
As a direct result of this initiative, we have already seen a very tangible increase in the number of women working at Aperam – accounting for 16.2% of our employees (2023). Although there’s room for improvement, we are moving in the right direction. Furthermore, by leveraging what we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the benefits of having a clever teleworking policy to the use of e-learning and virtual team building, we can build a better work-life balance for a post-pandemic world – which will further help Aperam attract and employ more women.
Welcoming People with Disabilities
For instance, our Timoteo unit in Brazil launched a specific process for recruiting people with disabilities. This hiring process was combined with a range of actions aimed at increasing awareness among our employees about the benefits of inclusiveness and the many different ways everyone can contribute to Aperam’s success. To ensure a smooth onboarding process, specific care was taken to ensure teams were fully prepared to include people with disabilities and to help walk them through our routines and procedures.
Mixing Languages and Cultures
Because of our global composition, diversity at Aperam is often defined by language and culture. We have four main official languages: English, Dutch, French and Portuguese, and all corporate communications are dispatched in multiple language versions. In fact, many of our official communications, such as our Health & Safety campaigns, our Compliance posters and, more recently, our Anti-Corruption campaign, are translated in up to 10 languages! In addition, site management are encouraged to use the local language of the workers, thus ensuring that proximity is not an empty word.
That being said, in order to boost creativity, at times we do utilise positive discrimination. For example, when several profiles match, sometimes we will opt for the local profile, while other times we will go with a new nationality in hopes that they will bring different ideas to the teams they join. In other words, we take a multi-criteria approach to diversity, one that is tailored to our ingenuity motto.
2022 - At a glance
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819 joiners (Full-Time Equivalent)
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Women : 14.7% (staff), 22.8% (exempts)